I’ve been promising it for some time, but now is unquestionably the time to ditch the VCR.

Two recently fallen straws broke the camel’s back. The first of them was a heart-stopping moment a few days ago when I thought it had chewed up a precious tape belonging to Mrs H’s cousin. This video featured about a year’s worth of coverage of her kids being part of the BBC’s school choir of the year and is therefore irreplaceable. I had fleeting visions of trying to harangue the press office of BBC East Midlands to try and get me various clips of the little angels that have been broadcast over the last few months. It was a dark moment. There’d be no redemption for such a crime.